1. Field of the Invention
The present patent application claims priority under the Paris Convention based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-049509 (filed on Feb. 29, 2008), and the entire content of the aforementioned application is herein incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a method for producing a cycloalkanol and/or a cycloalkanone by oxidizing a cycloalkane with oxygen.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a method for producing a cycloalkanol and/or a cycloalkanone by oxidizing a cycloalkane with oxygen, a method of performing the oxidation reaction using a mesoporous silica containing a certain kind of a metal element as a catalyst has been studied. For example, there are known a method using a mesoporous silica containing gold (International Publication No. WO 00/03963 pamphlet), a method using a mesoporous silica containing cobalt (Applied Catalysis, Netherlands, 2005, Vol. 280, pp.175-180, and a method using a mesoporous silica containing chromium or vanadium (Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering, Republic of Korea, 1998, Vol. 15, pp. 510-515).